Is Modern Astrology Really More “Vague”?

by Ray Grasse

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s followed the astrological field in recent years that there’s something of a divide between those who adhere to more traditional methods and those practicing so-called “modern astrology” (also sometimes referred to as “psychological astrology”—but more on that in just a bit).

To briefly sum up these two approaches, traditional astrologers, whether East or West, tend to be more “event-oriented,” more reliant on relatively precise formulas and rules, while also sub- scribing to a comparatively deterministic attitude towards fate.

On the other hand, modern-day astrologers tend, as a group, to focus more on the inner, psychological experiences of clients, while subscribing to a more malleable attitude towards fate and the vagaries of circumstance. Said another way, for the modern astrologer what’s “good” or “bad” in life tends to hinge more on a person’s subjective attitude and reaction than the external event itself.

One of the common criticisms leveled at the modern approach, especially in its more psychological variants, has been its supposed tendency toward vagueness in both natal and predictive interpretations. Some of the terms I’ve seen used to describe the modern approach have been “wishy-washy,” “overly focused on the subjective responses of clients,” “toxically positive,” or even “sloppy.”

As an extreme example, imagine a client coming into the astrologer’s office just as transiting Saturn is about to square their Sun, and the astrologer tells them something along the lines of, “You have a great growth opportunity ahead of you!” Or, “This will be an ideal time to learn about your limiting attitudes towards success and your own ego patterns!” While comments like that might be encouraging in their own way, such an approach actually says more about a particular counseling style than it does about the real-world problems the client is about to face, and would certainly leave that client with little practical understanding of what’s about to transpire in their life.

In contrast, it’s sometimes said that classical techniques are not only more precise but less reliant on the subjective responses of clients to the vagaries of fate, with a greater tendency to speak more plainly and concisely to actual events. As one writer put it:

Classical techniques assume you are a mere mortal whose hopes and fears and very body is subject to the sorts of slings and arrows that positive thinking and the law of attraction can’t do a thing about. Classical techniques describe those sorts of experiences better and more reliably than modern ones ever could. In classical astrology those slings and arrows suddenly get really clear. They’re no longer a statement of how you perceive the world about you, they describe that world in bright, vivid, unflinching detail. (Emphasis mine) (1)

To some extent, I actually agree with these criticisms of modern/ psychological astrology—at least, as they apply to the more extreme examples of that approach. The hypothetical case I proposed above, that of an astrologer’s response to the client undergoing a Saturn square, represents something of a caricature of the modern approach and can’t properly be compared with how one finds this style expressed through the works of figures like Stephen Arroyo, Liz Greene, or the late Howard Sasportas, for starters.

But I’d also like to point out that there are certain ways in which the advent of modern astrology has actually increased the specificity of our readings, rather than diminished it. The problem here lies in the unfortunate tendency to mischaracterize “modern astrology” strictly as psychological astrology, when in fact the two aren’t necessarily the same. That’s because there is an entirely different dimension involved with the evolution of modern astrology besides just that of psychology, and it has to do with the inclusion of the trans-Saturnian planets: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

Although these three planetary outers can indeed be incorporated in a purely psychological approach to astrology, that isn’t by any means necessary, since they can easily be employed in a completely event-oriented, non-psychological way as well. As such, I’d argue that they’ve provided us with the possibility of discerning details in horoscopes that would be completely missing in any pre-modern system of interpretation, whether that be Vedic, Medieval, Hellenistic, or otherwise. (To be clear, there are practitioners of traditional astrological systems who do incorporate the outer planets in their methods, but that is not universally the case.) I’ll offer four concrete examples of what I mean.

I had a client come to me who just survived a devastating year in a failed relationship, when it turned out the man she fell deeply in love with was a drug addict, and had also been cheating on her. One year before coming to me, she had gone to a respected Vedic astrologer who didn’t incorporate the outer planets, and who predicted nothing problematic on the horizon for her in matters of the heart. When I drew up her horoscope, however, I immediately saw that Neptune had been squaring her Venus throughout that entire year—with that square first becoming exact the same week she met the man (in a tavern, no less).

There was no real need for me to discuss the inner, psychological dynamics of the Neptune–Venus energy at all (although I could easily have done so, had I thought it would be helpful); it was quite enough to describe the outer misfortunes that customarily result from such a transit. My point here is that including this aspect in my reading gave a real-world precision to my consult that would have been lacking in one that didn’t incorporate that outer planet.

Here’s another example. A woman in her thirties came to me just as transiting Uranus was about to cross over her IC, at the bottom of her chart. While I did touch on some of the psychological implications of that transit, I also pointed out that there could be major changes or perhaps even disruptions in her home life, which might even involve a move. However, because of the fact that her natal Uranus was reasonably well-aspected at birth (it was conjunct Jupiter), I sensed that these changes could ultimately prove more positive than negative. As it turned out, that is exactly what happened. When the transit fired one month later, she had an unexpected job offer from out of state, which involved working for a major information technology firm (Uranus) and that required her to relocate. (Note: Any planet that affects a horoscopic angle will simultaneously affect the opposite angle, so it’s not surprising that a major conjunction with the IC would also involve her MC in some way.) Again, I was able to obtain a level of specificity using the outer planets that would have been absent without them.

One more Uranian example concerns a writer friend whose progressed Sun was coming up in several months to trine his natal Uranus. Since he was a somewhat public figure, I told him he might experience some unexpected media exposure around the time that aspect climaxed, due to Uranus’s concern with media and technology. As it turned out, certain statements he posted online unexpectedly drew widespread attention and he found himself the subject of discussion in media outlets around the entire world—all of this climaxing within just days of when the progressed Uranus aspect became exact. I was nearly as surprised by this turn as events as he was, not just because of the magnitude of what unfolded but due to how closely it coincided with the astrological aspect involved.

On a whim, I decided to see if my friend’s brush with media fame could have been detected using more traditional methods, so I approached a colleague conversant in Vedic methods to see what his system of interpretation indicated about that period. I was careful not to explain what happened and simply gave him my friend’s birth data, and asked if he saw anything unusual about that period in question. He described that general period as being a positive one, but said nothing about the worldwide fame, electronic media, nor pinpoint anything about the specific week in question. Yet again, the outer planets afforded extreme specificity rather than vagueness.

Now, here are two examples from natal astrology. The first of those involved a client who came to me with a nearly exact natal Mars-Pluto opposition between her 2nd and 8th houses. (Though I personally prefer to use Placidus, I should note that this aspect remained consistent in other house systems, including Whole Sign.) My experience has shown that any oppositions to Pluto in the 8th house nearly always point to conflicts or control issues with partners over money or shared resources, and can even involve problems of theft and/or betrayal. Indeed, this turned out to be probably the single most vexing problem in this woman’s entire life, having endured three marriages, all of which ended in contentious divorces over money and alimony settlements. This client had previously consulted a traditional astrologer—in this case, a respected Hellenistic practitioner (one who chose not to incorporate the outer planets)—who failed to note any of the turbulent struggles she experienced over money in relationships, as clearly shown by her natal Mars-Pluto opposition. (2)

Lastly, I had a client whose chart displayed an extraordinary natal configuration involving Jupiter in a very tight conjunction with Uranus in her 5th house, forming an equally tight trine to her Moon in Leo on the Ascendant. Even if Uranus hadn’t been involved in that pattern, I knew that this pattern could show a flair for creativity and performing, and coming before the public in some way. But with Uranus added to the mix, I knew that technology and media could easily play a big role as well. I mentioned that to her, and added that her career could easily see her becoming involved with TV, radio, the Internet, and so on. She informed me that she actually owned her own media production company at one point, and appeared on camera for many of the videos it produced. My point here is that while Jupiter in the 5th trining her Moon on the Ascendant could by itself point to creativity and being in the spotlight, the involvement of Uranus specifically suggested technology and the media could easily play a major role in that. As a result, adding that outer planet to the mix allowed me to be considerably less vague about her horoscope than I would have been otherwise.

In short, while modern astrology has certainly suffered from its ignorance of classical techniques, it’s important to appreciate how immensely astrology has benefited from modern developments, too. Rather than see the two approaches as separated by a vast gulf, astrologers would benefit from exploring all the ways these two paths can illumine one another. By failing to do so we run the risk of overlooking important insights in our interpretation of horoscopes, whether personal or sociopolitical in scope.

Notes:
1. Wonder Bright, “Why Should a Modern Astrologer Use Ancient Techniques?”
https://starsofwonder.com/2018/01/why-should-a-modern-astrologer-use-ancient-techniques/
Taken out of context, this quote of hers might give the impression she’s arguing for the superiority of ancient techniques over modern ones, but in fact she’s simply articulating a particular perspective, and like myself, personally believes in a healthy cross-pollination of styles.
2. I would add here that modern astrology, in its purely psychological form, is actually far more “specific” than traditional systems when it comes to mapping out our inner, emotional lives. I’ve noticed an implicit assumption among a few traditionally-oriented astrologers that our inner world of experience is somehow less important than the outer, more tangible one, when in fact these are simply different spheres of everyday activity. On countless occasions I’ve had clients come to me who had little interest in their worldly fortunes as much as in the complex psychological dynamics they’re experiencing at the time, especially under powerful Pluto, Neptune, or Saturn transits or progressions. In cases like these, the modern approach to astrology is considerably more detailed and specific when dealing with those subtleties of inner life as compared to traditional methods. In that context, traditional systems are considerably more “vague” when describing that inner terrain of psychological experience.

Published in: The Mountain Astrologer, Jun/Jul 2018.

Author:
Ray Grasse has been associate editor of The Mountain Astrologer for over 20 years, and is author of eight books, including An Infinity of Gods, The Waking Dream, and Signs of the Times. This article has been adapted from a chapter in his book StarGates, and first appeared in the June/July, 2018 issue of The Mountain Astrologer magazine. Ray’s website is www.raygrasse.com

© 2018/23 - Ray Grasse

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